Veteran driver Russell Ingall has launched an extraordinary attack on V8 Supercars officials after copping a mid-race penalty at Winton.

With him sitting at the back of the field, Ingall’s team pulled off a tactical masterstroke by bringing him in for a fresh set of tyres early in Saturday’s opening race.

The switch gave him a tremendous speed advantage and the 2005 Supercars champion motored through the field, climbing into the top 10 with the aid of safety car stoppages.

But on his way to third position, his aggressive driving took its toll when he clipped David Wall’s car and turned him around.

The officials took a dim view of the episode, serving Ingall a drive-through penalty that cost him a dozen positions.

While he recovered to finish tenth – a far cry from the back of the field where he started – he didn’t hold back in a post-race interview.

The Enforcer said the decision was the result of “dopey rules made by dopey idiots”.

“It’s alright for these peanuts to sit up in that ivory tower of their’s and just hand out punishments like that,” he said.

“I’d like to drag those guys down in front of the fans to see what they thought.

“They’d kick the s*** out of them.”

Ingall made clear his hope that the sport would switch to post-race reviews.

“Instead of looking at what went on, look at it afterwards then judge it. Don’t just fire one out and totally screw a good race for us,” he said.

“We had good strategy, we had good car speed. You don’t get those sort of gifts too often you know.”

Ingall may face a rare charge of bringing the sport into disrepute for this comments.